Residency

In May 2014 UnderConstruction Theatre hosted a Theatre Scratch Residency at The Old Fire Station funded by Arts Council England and Oxford City Council

Our first Resident Artist was Steve Larkin poet, musician, spoken-word artist, and writer and performer of the critically acclaimed N.O.N.C.E.

Steve was awarded the Residency to develop his piece ‘TES’, Tess of the d’Urbervilles re-imagined in Post-Industrial Northern England performed as Spoken Word Theatre. TES “paints play-by-play word pictures” with dramatic storytelling and scatterings of musical, comical and political poetry.

Steve spent two weeks in the theatre from 11th May, alongside a team of professional artists and Josh Tomalin, AOFS Technical Manager, and Director, Lizzy McBain. He was also given an £1000 bursary to make the production happen, full marketing, technical and production support.

A residency diary on this blog outlines the process and ideas explored as he developed the work.

He performed the piece on the evening of Friday 23rd May, followed by a post-show discussion about the process.

“This fierce retelling of an old classic needs to be seen”, CVV Magazine, Canada

Related…

Thoughts after TES during the post-show discussion Written and Performed by Steve Larkin 23rd May 2014, Arts at the Old Fire Station 1. Do you think it helps you know Tess of the D’Urbervilles or is it just icing on the...

23rd of May The day of the performance. Dress rehearsal put back from 10 to 3 then 4 then 5. We finish programming sound and light with just 15 minutes to spare before doors open! Chris, Josh and Lizzy work constantly...

22nd May Chris gets to work on the raw samples that I have uploaded. Josh sits and watches and tries lighting states. By the end of the day we are only a third of the way through ordering/editing. I try out...

21st of May The corporation Apple see to it that I need to pay through the nose to get connected. The goal posts move and I continue to pay to stay connected. I have to shell out an absurd amount of...

Tuesday 21st May More than 12 hours in a theatre. Lost the audio files I spent the weekend and the evening before creating – boo Found a load of them again – hurray Couldn’t get through to Josh the technical manager...

Monday 19th May This week there is a lot to achieve. It’s easy to forget how much there is to fit in to a production week; rigging and focusing lights, tech sheets, tech runs, dress runs, press photography and more…. It...

Lots to be happy about, lots to be scared about. Great sessions with Lizzy McBain. So much time is needed to knock this thing into shape and shape is the operative word. I have to map my way through the plot...

How to work as Director / Dramaturg with an artist who has been developing a show on his own for over a year and already performed it a number of times in front of an audience? How to be most useful...

Wednesday 14th May A choice of dresses this morning to spend the day editing and developing my script and acting out scenes whilst in character. I was attracted to the little black mini dress (of course I’m that sort of gal)...

Tuesday 13th of May Shorter day in the dance studio today. Worked on my tech script. Tried to work whilst in the persona of the female character I am trying to perfect. Found it hard to multitask! Being a woman obviously...